Will Parkinson

About Will

Brooke Johnson lives in Louisiana with her five girls, wonderful boyfriend, and many pets. When she is not working on finishing her current degree, she can be found fishing, coloring, or blowing bubbles with her kids. Just over a year ago, Brooke decided she wasn’t going to back down from her dreams, and started writing full time. With the encouragement of her family she is proud to be publishing her books for the world to read.

Brooke started reading later in life. Unlike many authors who have always had a special love for reading, Brooke didn’t pick up a book until she was in her late teens. She remembers wanting to find something to do with her mom, who has always been her best friend. One day her mom was talking about a romance novel that she just read. Not being interested in it all, Brooke gave in and read the book. She’s been her mom’s reading partner ever since. They can now sit and talk, laugh and even cry about all the books they have read over the years.

So, with great pride and honor, Brooke is happy to thank her mother for encouraging her to not only read, but to follow her heart, and write her own books. What started as simple poetry on scrap paper, at the age of seven, is now a dream come true. Brooke started writing but felt something was missing. When she started writing with Natalya Parks, everything seemed to fall into place, and now here they are. Launching books, and writing more. This may be the first you see of them, but Brooke is determined that this won’t be last. Brooke is excited for you to meet their characters, and fall in love with the men that they have spent many hours with over the last year, just for you!!

Natalya Parks:

Natalya parks lives is Louisiana with her beloved dog, Napoleon. Natalya enjoys spending as much time as possible with her children and grandchildren.

Natalya has had an ongoing passionate love affair with books since she was four years old. While her friends were getting in trouble for not reading she was getting in trouble for reading. She was late for dinner, forgot to do her chores, stayed up past her bedtime, forgot about homework and was late for the school bus on many occasions; because she couldn’t put the book down. Her most embarrassing moment caused by reading a book occurred when she was in seventh grade. The school bus pulled up to her stop and of course she couldn’t possibly stop reading. The story was just too good. So with her nose still in her book she slowly made her way down the aisle of the bus. She as she got to the top of the stairs she tripped over an instrument case that was jutting out just a bit into the aisle. Where she promptly fell head first down the stairs landing in a heap in the dirt, her feet resting on the bottom step. Natalya was wearing a dress that day.

She has wanted to be a writer since she was a teenager but never thought she could write anything good enough for someone else to want to read. Her dear friend Brooke convinced her otherwise and literally dragged her into the world of writing. Something she will be forever grateful. Now, not only does she get to love and enjoy works by other authors but also those that she has contributed to as well. Her mind still goes tilt, tilt when she thinks about the fact that she is a published author. Dreams really can come true.

Nineteen year old Ryder Harrison grew up near a small town in Montana, working on the family’s ranch and in love with his best friend, Landon Pennington. That was until his Grandfather decided he needed to go to college in California. Ryder promised his Mom before she died that he would finish his education. Staying true to his word, Ryder packs his clothes, and heads to California, confident that it would all be one big disaster. The only thing he hadn’t planned on was meeting Bentley Carter.

Twenty year old Bentley Carter has enough emotional issues to write his own ‘How to Cope’ manual. Surviving an abusive childhood, he made a personal promise to always stay true to himself, and never let emotions overrule his common sense. Content with his current life and friend with ‘benefits’, Ben is determined to not let his new roommate affect him.

Uncertain about their places in the world, and with each other, Ryder and Ben struggle to understand the person who is not what they thought they wanted, yet who they are unable to live without. Living in a sometimes cruel and unforgiving world they are determined to embrace the reality of falling in love and the challenges that follow.

Excerpt:

“Welcome to paradise!!” Ethan yelled over the music.

All I could see was flesh, and hard bodies. Hard everything. Everywhere I looked, half naked guys were dancing and grinding together.

“Ry, honey, you okay?” Ben squeezed my hand, pulling me out of the fog of lust.

I hadn’t realized I wasn’t blinking, until my eyes started to water. Ben noticed my current state, smiled and pulled me onto the dance floor. He had me turned and pressed against him so fast I was dizzy. My hands trembled. He started grinding against me with his hands on my lower back. The press of bodies around us didn’t allow for additional space between us, and the music only encouraged our hips to gyrate.

I could feel his nipple rings through our thin shirts. Our thighs rubbed together every time Ben wiggled his ass and pressed his hips to mine. I growled in the back of my throat, holding him a little tighter.

We’ve been in the damn club all of five minutes, and I was about cum in my pants.

“Ben, I need a drink.” I leaned in to speak directly into his ear.

He must not have heard me because he pulled me closer, moving us to the rhythm of the music. Ben’s hard-on was pressed my thigh. I made a mistake looking into his eyes. Their intensity was magnified by the eye liner. I’d never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Ben leaned into me, and I tightened my arms around his waist, wanting what he offered.

Starting at the sensitive skin behind my ear, he licked his way down to my collar before lightly biting me.

Or:

Ben

Two days since meeting Ryder and I was considering changing majors.

It’s been thirty minutes since this lecture began, and I couldn’t remember one word the professor said. The cause of my distraction was chewing on his pen, two rows down from me. I groaned, and then tried to cover it with a cough. My face felt hot as the girl next to me glared in my direction. Why did he have to do that with his pen? It wasn’t until everyone closed their books that I realized I had stared ay Ryder through the entire lecture.

I continually found reasons to spend time with him. So I shoved my stuff in my bag and rushed out of the classroom. I was eager to run into him in the hallway, maybe then I’d get him to talk to me.

I rushed past a bundle of people gathered in the hallway. It wasn’t as though he was hard to find. Ryder was tall and solid muscle; I bet he looked even better naked. Ryder smiled as I fell into step next to him.

“So, what did you think?” I asked as we took the stairs to our dorm room.

“It was okay. I could swear someone was watching me the whole time.” Ryder said.

Interview

Cool Beans Publishing & Editing and The Need To Touch.

Hello everyone, this is Jamie and Adriana from CBP&E. We are very excited to be here with you today. We were asked to tell you a little bit about our journey with Brooke Johnson and Natalya Parks and the publishing of The Need To Touch.

We first met Brooke and Natalya in mid-March, shortly after Cool Beans Editing started. They were new authors who had been struggling with their book and needed editors. As with any author and editing it can be very difficult and the girls were very good about putting up with the suggestions we made. They may have complained heavily and called their editor a few choice names, one of the most amusing was ‘Smurf Killer’, but in the end it all worked out. The reason for the ‘Smurf Killer’ was that corrections showed up as blue on the manuscript and they told us it looked like we killed a Smurf.

They quickly got as sick of seeing phrases such as; active voice, show this happening, and expand, as we did writing the phrases. But second round edits showed a huge difference in the story, and the editor was slightly forgiven for traumatizing them. Some of the harsher names for their editors even faded, mostly.

After edits were done, we kept in touch with them as friends. A month or two later they along with other authors began asking us questions about publishing, royalties, promotion, covers, formatters, and many other aspects of publishing. These questions as the friendships we had with marketers, and former publishers, prompted us to take the step to becoming a publishing house earlier than anticipated.

Again, the girls have been amazing to work with. They are great about doing book tours, personal media pages, and everything else we have asked of them. Not only were they the first authors to sign contracts with us for publishing, but their book and friendship with us made us want to have their book be the first we published.

Now they are busy teasing (tormenting) us with hints at other books in the works. Not to worry, we are just as eager to find out what happens with Ben and Ryder as the rest of you are. They won’t tell us anything until we get the manuscript, so yes, even their publisher feels the pain of waiting.

Brooke and Natalya have been amazing authors to work with and we are truly blessed and fortunate to have them with us. We are confident that you all will come to love them, and their books as much as we do. Please help us in congratulating them on their amazing achievement, and feel free to help prod them along in their writing.

That’s the best way to describe Jackie Nacht’s stories. She was introduced to M/M Romance through her sister, Stephani, and read it for years. Then, she thought it was time to put her own stories on paper. Jackie began writing short and sweet stories that ended with a happily ever after.

Thinking back to her own book addiction, where there were many nights Jackie stayed up way too late so she could read just one more chapter— yeah, right— Jackie decided to write short romances for young adults as well as adults. Hopefully, they will give high school and college students, or working men and women something they can read during their lunch hour, in between classes or just when they want to briefly get away from the daily stresses of everyday life.

Sometimes the best way to turn your bad luck around, is reach out for the hand willing to help.

Sophomore Shaun Richards could not have any worse luck. The front office ended up placing his locker in the senior wing this year. A month into the year and it hasn’t gotten any better. A group of seniors make it their mission to prove that he doesn’t belong and gives him a hard time on a daily basis.

While eating lunch alone one day senior, Nash Wilder comes to sit with him. Shaun has had a crush on the senior all year and wonders what the heck the senior was doing sitting with the geeky underclassman?

Excerpt:

Wrong Locker by Jackie Nacht

EXCERPT:

I was in pure hell. As I stood in front of Northeastern High, I could already feel my body tremble in panic. I was barely able to swallow, my throat dry with fear. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I wiped away the stray beads of sweat that showcased my anxiety to everyone passing me by.

Why was I so afraid to walk through those double doors? Oh that’s right. The front office had assigned me a locker in the senior hallway this year due to overcrowding. A sophomore in the senior wing? What in the world had they been thinking?

“You get up late, Shaun? Do you need me to start calling you in the morning again?” Wade adjusted his backpack as he came to stand next to me.

Wade was my only friend in school. We had grown up together and were tight as they came. He was protective of me and vice versa. He was also the only one I’d ever told I was gay, outside of my mom, even though I was teased ruthlessly by the jerks who just assumed. I wasn’t hiding it, but it was no one’s business either, so I didn’t confirm or deny.

How could I tell Wade that every day I tried to be this late? That way I might avoid having to walk to my locker in a hall crowded full of jerks that made it their life’s mission to put me through hell on a daily basis. If I came in late enough, I would only have to deal with a few stragglers as opposed to the whole gamut.

“No, I’m good, Wade.” My voice quivered. I hated feeling this way.

We entered the school together, and Wade paused at the front of the sophomore wing, pursing his lips. “Do you want me to go with you?”

As much as I wanted to say yes, I knew these jerks would be horrible to Wade, and I wanted to protect my one and only friend. “Go on to your locker. We only have a few minutes to make it to class.”

Walking away from Wade was a test of my courage. My whole body started to go on lockdown, ready to be verbally attacked, insulted and made to feel like a piece of chewing gum on the bottom of a shoe.

Putting my head down, I turned the corner, heading for my locker. I learned that if I didn’t make eye contact with the seniors, usually they would ignore me. I prayed that this would be one of those days. Getting to my locker, my fingers trembled as I grabbed my lock. Sheesh, I couldn’t even get the combination in I was shaking so badly. After screwing it up once, I had to try ‑­

spinning the combination out and trying again.

I took too long. The presence behind me confirmed that my day of hell was about to begin. Leaning my forehead against the cool locker, I didn’t even bother to try opening it up as my breath quickened.

A fist slammed next to me, causing me to jump.

Blake was there, leaning against the locker next to me with two of his buddies standing next to him. I have no clue what I ever did to offend the guy, but he hated me with a passion and was the ringleader to a group of seniors that gave me hell on a daily basis.

“Why haven’t you left yet? No one wants you here, fag.” Blake all but sneered at me.

It was the same thing every day. A sophomore wasn’t wanted in the wing, but it was more than that. This guy hated me. And I absolutely loathed being called a fag. That was just as bad as a slap to the face. Worse.

There was no point in responding. I’d tried the first couple times, explaining administration couldn’t switch my locker and that the sophomore wing was on overflow to other wings. Heck, there were a few more sophomores in this wing too, but they didn’t seem to have half as much trouble as I did. Of course, those sophomores were athletes.

Me, I was more on the small side, skinny as they came with stylish brown hair that I used to love but now seemed to be a beacon for these jerks.

“I don’t want to see you anymore. I don’t care how you do it, but I don’t want you walking in this hallway again.” Blake slammed the locker with his fist again. The three walked away, laughing and jeering at my humiliation.

I had hoped that it would get better, that these guys would get bored and leave me alone. Yeah, they hadn’t physically hurt me, yet. I knew that it was only a matter of time. Things had escalated too quickly in the last month since I had started school.

The bell rang, and I groaned, knowing that I was going to get into trouble for another tardy. Some days it just didn’t pay to wake up.

I ran all the way to my classroom and got a stern look from my Spanish teacher before sitting down in my assigned seat. This was the best part of my day. While one group of seniors were jerks, they weren’t all bad. Spanish was an elective that students were required to take two years of. Most waited until the last two years but I knew that I wanted to minor it in college so I wanted to have four years of languages.

This period, I got to stare at the back of the football co-captain, Nash Wilder. The man was gorgeous with sun-streaked light brown hair that had a short messy style to it. He was filled out ‑­

with muscles that I would forever lack and a tan I wish I could achieve. However, in my paleness, all I could hope for was a third degree burn. The man was handsome and unattainable. It seemed every girl dreamed he would ask them out, but the guy remained oblivious, concentrating on sports and school.

Glancing up at the dry erase board, I began doing my silent work of conjugating verbs and putting them into sentences. The tension in my body was still there from my earlier confrontation, but a small amount slipped away, knowing that I would have at least a small reprieve.

I was just about finished when Nash turned and stared at me. I glanced up from my paperwork into his puppy dog chocolate-brown eyes, surrounded by long dark eyelashes.

My jaw threatened to drop as he just scrutinized me. What was he thinking? Did I have something on my face? Oh God I did, didn’t I?

“You okay, Shaun?” Nash whispered, doing a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure the teacher wasn’t looking.

Nash knew my name? He freakin’ knew my name. I didn’t think anybody as popular as him would ever notice someone like me, unpopular and not an athletic bone in my body. He also sounded concerned. About me?

“I’m fine,” I croaked out.

Someone in Nash’s social stratosphere didn’t want to hear about all my problems. Probably would bore the guy to death.

Nash stared at me for a moment more before he went back to his work. I blew out a breath with relief that I didn’t have to discuss the jerks that constantly harassed me. How embarrassing would it be to admit to Nash the extent of my struggles, while crowded hallways seemed to simply part for him as he strolled along?

Rolling my pencil between my fingers, I frowned down at my work. This year was going to be so long for me. How was I ever going to be able to get through it? Sighing, I decided to try not to think about it as I got back to my work. Maybe in time I would have an answer, but right then, all I wanted was to survive the day.

WILL PARKINSON believes that no matter what obstacles are thrown in the path of young love, it will always find a way to win in the end. He wants his characters to have their happily ever after, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to come easily.

None of this would have happened if he had followed the advice he was given many years ago. “What are you wasting your time on that for? It’s never going to amount to anything.” He believed it for the longest time, abandoning characters he’d created in his childhood.

He picked up his very first m/m story by a writer named Eden Winters, who was an absolute joy when they corresponded. She asked him if he wrote and he told her the story. Eden explained to Will that the voices in his head would never go away and how he needed to let them out. With that thought in mind, Will put e-pen to e-paper once more. It was truly a liberating experience and one he has no intention of giving up again.

Although Addy’s heart and body bear the scars from his life before he was adopted by the Deans, he’s ached for something he thought he would never find. Until he met Benny. He isn’t sure how anyone can care for someone as broken as he is, even though he wants it desperately.

High school senior Benny Peters has his whole life planned out for him, until a chaste kiss at summer camp opens a new world of possibilities. Determined to erase Addy’s insecurities, Benny works to take away his boyfriend’s pain and replace it with love.

When Addy’s past intrudes on their future, it’s going to take everything Benny can muster to show that no matter what – or who – they face, they belong together.

Excerpt:

Benny cast a glance at Addy, noticing how his eyes kept darting to him and then to the floor. He seemed troubled, unsure.

“Addy? Is there something wrong?”

Addy heaved a deep sigh, then was quiet for a moment. “Do I embarrass you?” he finally asked.

“What? No, of course not. Why would you even think that?” Benny was genuinely perplexed.

“Jackson and Taylor don’t seem to have any problem touching each other, but you act like I’ve got germs or something and won’t come anywhere near me when there’s other people around. I have to wonder if you’re ashamed to be seen with someone like… me.”

“Listen to me, little man. I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be ashamed of you. If anything, you should be ashamed of me.”

Addy looked puzzled. “Why?”

Benny slid his fingers through his stubbly hair, then rubbed the back of his neck before he spoke. “I’m not really comfortable with being… like this. I really do care for you, but I’ve never felt this way about a guy— well, about anyone—before, and I don’t know how to handle it. So no, I’m not ashamed or embarrassed of you at all. I’m just not sure how to deal with everything.”

Addy took Benny by the hand and peered into his eyes. “That’s all I needed to know. I don’t want to rush you. If you need time, you’ve got to know I’ll give it to you. I just wanted to be sure that you wanted me.”

Benny regarded his boyfriend. Yeah, hisboyfriend. Benny had never been afraid to stand up for anyone in his life. Why should he be ashamed to stand up for himself now?

“C’mere, little man,” he growled, putting his hand on Addy’s neck, pulling him in close.

Addy’s eyes went wide, excitement dancing in them. Benny licked his lips and then pressed them to Addy’s in a deep, thrilling kiss. Someone whimpered. Benny wasn’t really sure which one of them it had been. He felt his synapses fry. It was the most incredible thing he’d ever experienced. A voice called out, startling them both.

“Benny? Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

Benny looked up and stared for a moment at Taylor, who had a wide smile across his face. Benny could feel his cheeks heat up. This wasn’t the way he wanted this to go, but damn, right now he needed Addy in the worst way.

“No, Taylor, not right now,” he replied quietly. Then he went back in for another one of those amazing kisses.

Lou Hoffmann, a mother and grandmother now, has carried on her love affair with books for more than half a century, and she hasn’t even made a dent in the list of books she’d love to read—partly because the list keeps growing as more and more fascinating tales are told in written form. She reads factual things—books about physics and stars and fractal chaos, but when she wants truth, she looks for it in quality fiction. Through all that time she’s written stories of her own, but she’s come to be a published author only as a johnnie-come-lately. Lou loves other kinds of beauty as well, including music and silence, laughter and tears, youth and age, sunshine and storms, forests and fields, rivers and seas. Proud to be a bisexual woman, she’s seen the world change and change back and change more in dozens of ways, and she has great hope for the freedom to love in the world the youth of today will create in the future. You can find Lou on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lou.hoffmann, or twitter @Lou_Hoffmann.

Author Contact:

Cover Artist: Catt Ford

Publisher: Harmony Ink Press (Dreamspinner Press imprint)

Blurb(s):

On his way to meet a fate he’d rather avoid, homeless gay teen Lucky steps through a wizard’s door and is caught up in a whirlwind quest and an ancient war. He tries to convince himself that his involvement with sword fights, magic, and interworld travel is a fluke, and that ice-breathing dragons and fire-breathing eagles don’t really exist. But with each passing hour, he remembers more about who he is and where he’s from, and with help, he begins to claim his power.

Lucky might someday rule a nation, but before he can do that, he must remember his true name, accept his destiny, and master his extraordinary abilities. Only then can he help to banish the evil that has invaded earth and find his way home—through a gateway to another world.

It started last year. A dream about a story where one guy had been lusting over another all throughout high school. I woke up in the middle of the night (as I am often wont to do) and wrote it down. I thought that was the end of it. But no. The boys had other ideas, though. I shared the story with a friend. She said it would make a good full length story and that I had a ‘young adult’ voice. That got me thinking about doing more with the story. Taylor and Jackson were definitely on board with that.

So I sat down. They were no longer going to be in college, they were going to be in high school. Their circle of friends expanded, and their lives took on a life of its own. In the original there was no Becca. There was no Kevin. Yet they came to play, too.

Pitch was my first story that I even considered sharing with the world. I had some help from an amazing person who helped me to show and not tell, who encouraged the story along. Who told me it didn’t suck. I look at it now and think, “oh geez, I could have done this differently”, but I’m still happy with what I wrote. Mostly. (The urge to tweak is still there.)

The one thing that most people had in common was a love for one particular character. He was supposed to be a background person, someone who was there to provide moral direction. Instead he became the ‘oh damn, I wish I had a friend like him’. The end of Pitch was supposed to be that. The end. But a few friends who were reading it wanted more. They wanted me to tell a story for Benny. And it seemed impossible, until the end of the book when everything came together and suddenly the story for Benny made sense. So I went back and jiggered a few bits, making it seem like Benny had something to say. Now he does.

Harmony Ink, the young adult division of Dreamspinner Press, has agreed to publish Wet Paint, Benny and Addy’s story (I’m sorry, Benny did NOT end up with Taylor, that was never even a thought in my head).

Now I’m going to admit something to you. Some people had a hard time with Pitch because of some issues of stupidity on the part of the main character. Taylor is sixteen in the story, almost seventeen. He made some choices that were not too bright, but, according to my friends who work with young adults, they were perfectly consistent with reality. We all have secrets, and Taylor’s almost cost him everything.

Another thing that some found off-putting was something Jackson does. Again, he’s sixteen going on seventeen. I’m sorry. Kids make spur of the moment choices that they later regret.

And, finally, there is the subject of abuse. It plays a small role in Pitch when Taylor and Benny meet Addy. It’s not in-depth discussion, but it’s there.

Why am I telling you this? Because in Wet Paint some of these issues are revisited. The big one being the abuse. If it’s a red-flag issue for you, then you probably will not want to read Wet Paint. Addy’s story cannot be told without it, and I can’t sugarcoat what happened to him and how it affects him to this day, and may for the rest of his life. I can’t shy away from it in his story. I’m certainly not going into graphic detail, but the imagery is there.

I disagree with one reviewer who said this was too adult for a YA novel. I think kids need to know these things. Unless you’re hiding them away in their rooms, there is no way they won’t already hear it or, in some cases, even have to deal with it. In the end, Taylor realizes what he did was wrong, and he paid a price for it. Like real life.

So, for those who enjoyed Pitch, I sure hope you’ll like Wet Paint. It was tough to write, but I’m very happy with the outcome.

Now, instead of ending on a heavy note, I want to introduce you to my inspirations for the characters.

Benny Peters. This guy is a bit older and has more facial hair than I see Benny having, but his body type is perfect.

If there were ever perfect book boyfriend, Benny would be mine. He says the things that shows he wants to protect you, to keep you safe. He’s possessive and, maaaaybe a tad domineering, but if you’re important to him, he refuses to let you go.

Addy Dean. Met Benny at Camp Care where Benny was his counselor. Did something that would change his life forever.

Addy has not had the best life. He was abused by his biological father, physically and sexually. He was angry and hurt. He never let anyone inside of his shell. Yet Benny found a way in, and Addy didn’t want to let that slip away.

Adopted by the Dean family when he was a child, Addy is finally coming to grips with what happened. He’s opening up to his family, much to their relief.

Liam Hartwell. This year he’s going to cause problems between Benny and Addy, but not everything is as it seems when this young man is involved.